So it looks like Paulie's gunna be out a while after taking an elbow to the head the other night. We all know his history with concussions, so there's the distinct possiblity that he'll be out at least a week or two. Now, you would assume that the team would want to replace an "offensive player" (and I use that term loosely when talking about the 6 million dollar man) with someone else capable of generating points on the ice. But noooooooooo, they're just gunna stick old Cam in there to run around for 5 minutes without even touching the puck.

I know this isn't the genesis of the our problems. But why not call a guy up like Lars Eller and see what he can do in Kariya's absense. We saw what he's capable of earlier this year, so why not just stick him in there again for the interm? It's gotta be a better option than Cam. Right?

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The whole situation appears to indicate the management has lost their business strategy. In the retail world, you succeed by following your strategy- you can sell a cheap product, but sell a lot and be profitable. Or you can make a high-quality product at a high price and still be profitable, even when your sales aren't through the roof. The key is sticking to your strategy.

For the last few seasons, the Blues have followed the strategy of "building from within," and a commitment to developing talented youth. And it worked- we have a good amount of talented youth. However, the management has also hired a coach who is notorious for favoring veterans and not giving younger players adequate playing time to develop (which we see rather frequently in the benching of Perron, Berglund, EJ, but never Tkachuk, Kariya, etc.). This runs contrary to the business strategy, which, if allowed to continue, leads to loss of market share. In the hockey world, that translates to a shitty team.

Mr. Checketts, Mr. Davidson- you are businessmen. Follow your business strategy- do something about the current situation.

gaijin wrote:The whole situation appears to indicate the management has lost their business strategy. In the retail world, you succeed by following your strategy- you can sell a cheap product, but sell a lot and be profitable. Or you can make a high-quality product at a high price and still be profitable, even when your sales aren't through the roof. The key is sticking to your strategy.

For the last few seasons, the Blues have followed the strategy of "building from within," and a commitment to developing talented youth. And it worked- we have a good amount of talented youth. However, the management has also hired a coach who is notorious for favoring veterans and not giving younger players adequate playing time to develop (which we see rather frequently in the benching of Perron, Berglund, EJ, but never Tkachuk, Kariya, etc.). This runs contrary to the business strategy, which, if allowed to continue, leads to loss of market share. In the hockey world, that translates to a shitty team.

Mr. Checketts, Mr. Davidson- you are businessmen. Follow your business strategy- do something about the current situation.

and now comes word the EJ is watching from the rafters tonight b/c he's a -3 over his last 8 games? This team is starting to become a f'ing joke again! I'm starting to agree with the "Fire Murray" crowd.

strocklen083 wrote:and now comes word the EJ is watching from the rafters tonight b/c he's a -3 over his last 8 games? This team is starting to become a f'ing joke again! I'm starting to agree with the "Fire Murray" crowd.

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strocklen083 wrote:and now comes word the EJ is watching from the rafters tonight b/c he's a -3 over his last 8 games? This team is starting to become a f'ing joke again! I'm starting to agree with the "Fire Murray" crowd.

I've been more than willing to give it time. I'm a believer in patience when building and implementing a "system". But it has become even more apparent over the last two months that his system is cracking at the foundation and crumbles a little bit with each 3rd period debacle. I don't know how many more of these he can sustain before being canned.

But even if he's let go, there's not a great pool of available coaches. There's also a financial part of the decision that comes in to play. Remember the organization picked up his option for 2010-2011 season after last year's run. So you'd be paying the guy for all of next season as well. Although it's probably a more fiscally responsible decision to buy him out and bring in a new guy rather than suffer through another year and half of this garbage!

strocklen083 wrote:and now comes word the EJ is watching from the rafters tonight b/c he's a -3 over his last 8 games? This team is starting to become a f'ing joke again! I'm starting to agree with the "Fire Murray" crowd.

I've been more than willing to give it time. I'm a believer in patience when building and implementing a "system". But it has become even more apparent over the last two months that his system is cracking at the foundation and crumbles a little bit with each 3rd period debacle. I don't know how many more of these he can sustain before being canned.

But even if he's let go, there's not a great pool of available coaches. There's also a financial part of the decision that comes in to play. Remember the organization picked up his option for 2010-2011 season after last year's run. So you'd be paying the guy for all of next season as well. Although it's probably a more fiscally responsible decision to buy him out and bring in a new guy rather than suffer through another year and half of this garbage!

I definitely symapthize with the patience thing and that's a very valid argument for a rebuilding team. My problem more than anything is that it is becoming increasingly obvious that his system, whatever its flaws, is losing the players. A coach that is more prone to pushing players away than having them buy into what he's trying to teach will never be a success. A critical part of getting the players to buy into whatever system you're preaching is winning. They obviously haven't been doing that consistently and in the process he further alienates the younger players by pulling the same bull $hit hs has been with them. I started getting fed up about a month ago when it was obvious that this half of the year was going to be looking remarkably similar to last year despite the improvements in personnel and experience.

Why are people being frantic about this team? We're still in rebuilding mode. It's gonna be a few years, fellas. Melting down about EJ being in the pressbox for one game or Janssen getting some ice time is a little crazy.

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goon attack wrote:Why are people being frantic about this team? We're still in rebuilding mode. It's gonna be a few years, fellas. Melting down about EJ being in the pressbox for one game or Janssen getting some ice time is a little crazy.

goon attack wrote:Why are people being frantic about this team? We're still in rebuilding mode. It's gonna be a few years, fellas. Melting down about EJ being in the pressbox for one game or Janssen getting some ice time is a little crazy.

I would generally agree with you here, but we are in the middle of an epic debacle at home right now and as a season ticket holder I feel the fans deserve a better effort to win games.

This isn’t a case where we are in complete rebuilding mode and we simply don’t have the talent to compete. We have a coach that cannot properly use and/or prepare these players to compete.

I stand strongly behind my belief that making the playoffs last year was the worst thing for this organization (save financial concerns). It had three extremely detrimental ramifications….

#1- It bought Murray more time.

#2- Caused the fan base to believe this team is better than it really is.

#3- Management thought this team is better than it is. We still were a horrible team at scoring last year. We simply rode effort and hot goaltending. Karia is done, Walt is a 15 -20 goal a year guy, Backas probably had a career high in goals scored last year. TJ Oshie is not a 30 -40 goal a year guy, he’s a solid 20 goal a year - tough nosed – grinder guy, Mason had twice had second halves in his career and has never sustained that level the next year. Brewer..is Brewer….no surprise . Jackman …is Jackman……no surprise.

You are right, this team is not ready to compete for a cup (or their division), but they are ready to be more competitive at home.

Unlike many, I do not expect them to play above their abilities. I will not however accept the fact that they continue not to play up to their abilities here at home.

goon attack wrote:Why are people being frantic about this team? We're still in rebuilding mode. It's gonna be a few years, fellas. Melting down about EJ being in the pressbox for one game or Janssen getting some ice time is a little crazy.

I think it all boils down to people wanting Murray gone.How do you bench EJ when Brewer and Jackman consistently perform at a level worse than EJ? When's the last time Brewer or Jackman were healthy scratches?

A coach who punishes the kids for their mistakes, but doesn't hold the veterans accountable for their's, is a horrible coach.What do you think is going through EJ's mind when he gets a seat in the press box for not playing at a level expected by his coach, but then he sees Brewer and Jackman make mistakes night in and night out, and never miss a shift.

Well, EJ seemed to handle it just fine. And who cares what he thinks about it. His goal is to be a defensive machine out there. Consider this benching part of his mental conditioning. If anything, he'll be more hungry out there.

And what will he think? If he's not an übërdümbäss, he'll think that the veterans have earned more deference than his nööb ass, as it should be.

göön

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Lars Eller took himself out of warm-ups last night with a upper body injury. So Blues fans you are being blessed with Derick Armstrong. He should be in St. Louis today if he made it back from Toronto in time.

gaijin wrote:For the last few seasons, the Blues have followed the strategy of "building from within," and a commitment to developing talented youth. And it worked- we have a good amount of talented youth. However, the management has also hired a coach who is notorious for favoring veterans and not giving younger players adequate playing time to develop (which we see rather frequently in the benching of Perron, Berglund, EJ, but never Tkachuk, Kariya, etc.). This runs contrary to the business strategy, which, if allowed to continue, leads to loss of market share. In the hockey world, that translates to a shitty team.

Mr. Checketts, Mr. Davidson- you are businessmen. Follow your business strategy- do something about the current situation.